


The Nightmare And The Awakening

by Amona



Series: The Nightmare [1]
Category: A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), A Nightmare on Elm Street (Movies 1984-1994), A Nightmare on Elm Street - All Media Types, Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Bad Jokes, Bad Parenting, Fem!Freddy Krueger, It’s not as dark as it sounds I promise, Mentions of Pedophilia, Mild Language, Murder, Other, Psychological Themes, Sarcasm, Well maybe a little bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-08 14:47:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 13,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14696385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amona/pseuds/Amona
Summary: How long would she lust after human life? How long could she play this game?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, who decided to take a look at my first fanfiction on Ao3!
> 
> Before I begin with the story, I would like to tell you a few things first.  
> First, English is not my first language, so there’s obviously going to be some grammar mistakes or something like that, since I don’t have an english beta reader yet. So please excuse any mistakes you might find.  
> Second, when I first started this fanfiction, I had not seen A Nightmare on Elm Street yet (and although I did watch it recently, I decided that I liked my version of Freddy’s backstory better xD).  
> Third, the first 21 chapters are going to be pure backstory and then the real story will begin. There will be a regular upload of one chapter every day, until chapter 21. After that there will be only weekly updates in the next part once I upload it, since I will probably be busy with school.
> 
> Without further due, have fun while reading this and please leave a comment about what you thought of the prologue. Any kind of feedback, suggestions and opinions are welcome!

Her blank eyes were glued to the lifeless body of her father.

 

She was distinctly aware of her mother’s sobbing in the background as a small pool of red liquid started to gather under him.

 

The small girl could not see his eyes, but she was sure they had turned glassy the second his body hit the floor after the kitchen knife had pierced his back.

 

He had not even made a sound when he hit the ground from where he had been kneeling over her mother.

 

Little Aileen Freyr Krueger felt the bolt of adrenaline and something unfamiliar, _something unhuman_ , leave her body .

 

She flinched when her mother grabbed her shoulders in a bruising grip and kneeled infront of her.

 

Annabeth Krueger’s shaking hands settled on either side of her nine year old daughter’s face.

 

"It’s okay, baby, it’s okay. This wasn’t your fault- you were just trying to protect me. You did nothing wrong, you did nothing wrong", she breathed with tears running down her face.

 

Aileen was unsure if her mother was reasuring her or herself, so she continued staring at her mother with an impassive face.

 

The little girl’s emotions had always been rather dull.

 

She rarely laughed or cried because she never felt like it.

 

Aileen knew, despite her physical age, that she was not normal, so she often had to make sure to react appropiately in certain situations as to not raise any suspicion or cause discomfort.

 

It was almost the same as being dead, she had realised.

 

But just now, when she had driven the knife into her abusive father’s back, she had felt so _**alive**_.


	2. Chapter 1 : Falling to the black

After making sure that her little daughter was alright, Annabeth called the police and an ambulance.

 

The next few hours were a blur of policemen and doctors.

 

Mrs Krueger had minor bruises and a few cuts but Aileen was unharmed save for the trauma they suspected she must have since she did not respond to anything and opted to stare blanky at the wall.

 

But the little girl simply had other things in mind. She thought about the foreign feeling she had felt after killing her father.

 

It had felt _good_. But murder was wrong, was it not? She had often heard adults talk about murderers being in jail and only bad guys went to jail, therefore murder must be bad. _**Am I bad?**_

 

But her mother had said that she had done nothing wrong and her mother always told the truth.

 

Aileen frowned in confusion, showing the frist emotion in hours.

 

„Baby?“, she heard her mother’s voice.

 

Aileen willed herself out of her thoughts and looked at the older Krueger.

 

Annabeth smiled in relief at having her daughter’s attention.

 

“ _Hey_ ,“ she breathed, “how are you doing, sweetie?“ 

 

Aileen shrugged helplessly. She was not sure how she should be feeling or acting right now, so she did not bother.

 

“We’re going home now, alright?“, Mrs Krueger said. 

 

The sheriff shook his head disapprovingly: “Annabeth, please listen to reason. She could be traumatised. She has to see a doctor. Someone who can _help_ her.“

 

Her mother furrowed her eyebrows and glared at the sheriff.

 

“A _stranger_ will not be able to help her. I know my baby and I can and will help her more than anyone else“, she snapped and her voice dared him to argue with her.

 

In the end, the sheriff was not able to convince her mother to get professional help.

 

**Annabeth would later find out, how terrible a mistake her choice was.**

 


	3. Chapter 2 : I walk a lonely road

The next years went by pretty quick.

  
  


Annabeth watched her daughter like a hawk, making sure that Aileen was always content and looked after.

  
  


She was pleased to see that Aileen showed no signs of trauma or change.

  
  


Aileen herself was now 14 years old and in the 7th grade of highscool.

  
  


She did not have any friends, but that was usual for her and she also did not want to have any. The other kids were either too loud or too quiet for her, so she ignored them and concentrated on her grades, which were actually pretty good, since she had more than enough free time to study.

  
  


After doing her homework, she often said at the barn on their big farm and watched the other children play on the big field in the middle of their small village.

  
  


"They’re pathetic", she mumbled to the pig, that was resting beside her in his muddy bed, "they think they’re at the top of the world, kings and queens. Don’t they realise how small we are? No one who matters cares about us."

  
  


She thought back to how the _cool kids_ were bullying younger students on the hallways of their school.

  
  


"They’re not as important as they think", she continued, picking on a straw of hay sticking out of a hay bale in front of her.

  
  


But she would not bother waking them up. They could dream up their lives forever for all she cared.

  
  


"Aileen, dinner’s ready", she heard her mother call from inside their house.

  
  


Aileen stood up without glancing back at the small group of children but still noticing how one of the girls ran away crying.

  
  


Later on that evening she and her mother were watching a movie, while cuddling and talking together.

  
  


Tomorrow was Aileen’s birthday. She would be turning sweet little 15.

  
  


Annabeth promised to make her daughter her favourite apple pie after school and to spend the rest of the day with her before she had to go to work.

  
  


Then Aileen would be alone for a while, if you did not count the farm workers who would be outside and take care of ther farm.

  
  


She decided to finally buy that one book she had been saving money for after school.

  
  


The next day Aileen was woken up by her mother a little later than usual.

  
  


They had breakfast together before Mrs Krueger drove her daughter to school.

  
  


At school she noticed that one of the _cool kids_ was not there, but she shrugged her observation off. **Not my problem.**

  
  


She went to the bookstore that afternoon and bought the book, trying to be as insuspicious as possible.

  
  


Not that anyone believed in these kinds of things anyway.

  
  


Once she was back home, she hid the book in her room and waited until her mother left for work, before she went to her room and locked the door.

  
  


A strange thrill went through her as she sat on the bed and stared at the dark leathered heavy book in front of her.

  
  


It’s title read ’ **The art of dark magic** ’.

 


	4. Chapter 3 : The corpse bride

The next day went by quickly.

  
  


School was as boring as usual except for the annoncement from their director that Madison Wingar, one of the popular kids in her class, had went missing.

  
  


The other popular kids shed a few (obviously fake) tears and used it as an excuse to skip classes. Figures.

  
  


**They must have started to bully her too** , Aileen thought, **that’s why she ran away from the field two days ago. She must have not returned home after that.**

  
  


Annabeth was sad to hear about Madison’s disappearence but she did not comment further on it and so Aileen dropped the subject.

  
  


It was late in the afternoon and Aileen was once again sitting by the barn when she heard a noise coming from inside.

  
  


She looked up slowly and raised an eyebrow at the wooden building.

  
  


The noise came again and she wondered if she should check it out or call her mother.

  
  


Eventually Aileen decided to take a look at it.

  
  


The teen entered the barn and cautiously looked around .

  
  


She froze for a moment when she spied a pool of blood leading around a corner.

  
  


Memories of the night she had killed her father flashed before her eyes before she closed them and breathed in.

  
  


Her heart began to race from ... _excitement?_ and she just stood there and felt the strange thrill that once again went through her.

  
  


She rarely felt something so intense.

  
  


Aileen saw the corpse before she even stepped closer.

  
  


The young Krueger examined the dead body with curiosity. It was Madison Wingar.

  
  


Her wrists were cut and there was a bloody knife still in her hand.

  
  


She was pale, her eyes closed and there were dried tear streaks on her face.

  
  


Aileeen kneeled down before her and stared at the cut wrists.

  
  


The blood there was still flowing and the cut was quiet a mess too.

  
  


Aileen wondered how a professional cut would look when she heard her mother’s voice behind her.

  
  


"Aileen! I’ve been calling you for the last-", Annabeth froze dead in her tracks, her eyes wide as she took in the scene in front of her.

  
  


"What ... did you-", the older Krueger was struggeling to speak, because she could not- would not believe that her sweet little daughter-, until she saw the knife in Madison’s hand.

  
  


Mrs Krueger let out a relieved sigh and met the blank stare of her daughter.

  
  


"Of course you didn’t", she breathed, smiling.

  
  


She took another glance at the corpse, "Well, we should call the police, Come here, Aileen."

  
  


And call the police they did.

  
  


Sheriff Shepard took theit witness reports, while the co-sheriff secured the barn.

  
  


In the end they decided that it had been suicide due to bullying.

  
  


Aileen did not see the leaders of the cool kids at school for the next days after that but when they came back, they were all quiet and did not talk nor hang out with each other.

 


	5. Chapter 4 : I’ll dream when I’m dead

It was months later when Aileen finally came to a conclusion.

 

She had been thinking about Madison’s suicide a lot since it happened.

 

She decided that she wanted to feel that thrill again.

 

Nothing else seemed to excite her in any way.

 

But she knew that she could not just murder someone.

 

That was why she had bought the book about dark magic on her sixteenth birthday.

 

The book did not contain much that interested her, until she flipped to the pages about dreamwalking.

 

The first page containted a warning:

 

_Dreamwalking is one of the most dangerous and risky arts of dark magic. To master it, one has to be ready to leave behind physical restraints to enter the world of tranquility. Be warned that there is no going back once the Gate of Dreams is openend. There can only be one Dream Master._

 

The next pages containted a few more informations about dreams and spiritual advice.

 

The author adviced to repeat the first stage of dreamwalking until the soul has fully mastered it before continuing with the next stages.

 

Aileen waited until Saturday night to try it.

 

She laid down on her bed after telling her mother goodnight and closed her eyes.

 

According to the book, she had to refrain from moving for the next 20 to 30 minutes. She would then enter the Dream World.

 

At first she was sceptical, since it could not possibly be that easy to enter the Dream World.

 

She did not know, how long she had been lying there waiting for sleep to take her, but after a while her nose began to itch. That was apparently her brain checking if she was asleep, so Aileen ignored it.

 

A strange feeling came over her after a while.

 

She could not feel the bed under her anymore.

 

It felt like she was floating instead and there was an eerie silence around her.

 

The young Krueger tried to breath in and opened her eyes.

 

The world was different shades of gray around her. She did not feel anything on her skin, heard no sound and was not sure if she was actually breathing at all.

 

Her brows furrowed.

 

She was breathing or was she not?

 

She did not feel her lungs trying to catch a breath or her chest trying to move because she had no body- no physical form and she was panicking- actually panicking- because she was suffocating but not and-

 

She woke up bathed in sweat and her head was spinning as she gasped for breath with her heart racing.

 

She raised her shaking hands to her face an brushed her damp locks out of her face.

 

Aileen breathed in the cool air in her room deeply and waited for the feeling of nausea to ebb away.

 

Once her heart had calmed down, she stood up to take a shower and change her pyjamas.

 

Once she was feeling calm enough she went back into her room, where she froze on the doorstep.

 

Her window was half open, letting in the cold fresh night air.

 

But Aileen had not been the one that opened it and she had locked her door earlier so it could not have been her mother.

 

She quickly searched her room to see if there was something missing or someone inside, but nothing was out of place.

 

She then closed her window and went back to bed with an uneasy feeling.

 

Only once she was back in bed did she realise something.

 

She had _felt_. The panic she had, the _fear_. And it had been so _intense_.

 

Aileen rarely felt emotions like that. The only exceptions had been the two times she had been confronted with death.

 

Was she perhaps scared of death? She was not sure. The concept of death clearly interested her but did it also scare her?

 

Aileen sighed and closed her eyes to sleep normally this time.

 

She would have to research this a bit more and maybe try again tomorrow.

 

Fear or not, she just knew that this was something she was meant to do.

 

The few week consisted of Aileen trying to enter the Dream World without panicking.

 

But no matter how many books she read, how many nightly rituals she did, her body simply refused to let her soul enter tranquility.

 

Another new feeling she experienced during these weeks was frustation.

 

The urge to enter the Dream World, to _walk_ in the Dream World, grew stronger with each day and she refused to give up.

 

She would try until it worked. And it _would_ work.

 

Aileen just had to be patient.


	6. Chapter 5 : I’m not here for your entertainment

Things were fairly quiet after that, as usual.

 

Going to school, talking with her mother and watching TV were her daily routines.

 

At the weekends she liked to read books or try to dreamwalk, but still with no success. It was a month later when something unusal happened.

 

Her new history teacher, a young adult who was quite popular around the girls in her class, asked her to stay a bit longer after class because he wanted to talk to her.

 

Aileen was a bit taken back since no teacher usually payed any attention to her due to the fact that she stayed out of trouble and had fairly satisfiying grades.

 

Mr Ralley patiently waited for her to put her books in her bag before smiling at her friendly.

 

"Thank you for staying, Aileen. You’re probably wondering why I wanted to speak to you. But don’t worry, you’re not in trouble", he said.

 

Aileen hummed and waited for him to continue.

 

After a few second of silence, he did.

 

"I know I’ve only been here for a few months now and don’t really know all of you very well, but I couldn’t help but notice that you don’t seem to have any ... connections in this class. I thought that maybe you are simply too shy to speak with anyone, so I would like to offer you my help", he said, "we’re going to need a lot of teamwork for the next few lessons and it seems like you are the only one in class with no obvious partner. Perhaps, if you’d like it, I could team you up with someone you might get along with?"

 

Aileen had started to furrow her brows during his speech and stared at him with an annoyed facial expression.

 

"Why?", she asked with a low voice.

 

Mr Ralley was not fazed. "I’ve been in highschool too, you know. I know how it feels to have no connections in you class, especially during partner work. You must feel so _**lonely**_ -"

 

"I don’t.", Aileen interrupted him with a glare, "I am not like **you** and I am not like **them**. I don’t **want** to have any _connections_ with anyone, thank you very much."

 

With that she turned around and left the classroom, all the while feeling his burning gaze on her back.

 

Aileen still felt bits of annoyance when she finally arrived back home and Annabeth, being as observant as ever when it came to her daughter’s mood, immediatly took notice. "How was your day, sweetie?", she asked while cleaning the dishes.

 

Aileen did not look up from her spot on the couch in front of the TV and replied with a curt "Fine".

 

Mrs Krueger hummed and quickly finished the dishes before sitting down next to her daughter.

 

"Did something happen at school today?", she asked sweetly.

 

Aileen was not sure if she should tell her mother about Mr Ralley, since it was not that important anyway.

 

But she figured that having her mother on her side, in case of Mr Ralley calling home, would be beneficial, so she told Annabeth about it.

 

Her mother was frowning by the end of her explanation.

 

"That is unusal behaviour for a teacher, even a new one. This _Mr Ralley_ shouldn’t call you out like that", she looked at Aileen with a warm look in her eyes, "dont’t worry about it, sweetheart. There is nothing wrong with you. I saw the kids at your school and I wouldn’t want to talk with them either. Tell me if he botheres you again and I will go speak with him, alright?"

 

After Aileen’s affirmative nod, Annabeth patted her daughter’s head and watched today’s show with her.


	7. Chapter 6 : Shot through the heart

Mr Ralley did not bother her for the next few days, but treated her kindly instead until Aileen stopped staring him down everytime she saw him.

 

Her dreamwalking also showed improvement, since she could stay in the Dream World fairly longer each time, which also improved her mood.

 

Still, everytime she woke up in cold sweat her window was open, her room filled with fresh air.

 

Whoever or whatever did that seemed to want to help her since the night air calmed her down immediately, so she did not really feel threatened.

 

However, she soon noticed how much she had been letting her guard down lately.

 

It was yet another history class with Mr Ralley, when he asked her to stay after class again.

 

Aileen noticed the other girls giving her weird looks and dark glares, to which she only raised an eyebrow in respons.

 

"Thank you for staying after class again, Aileen", Mr Ralley said, "I wanted to talk to you about your last exam. As you may have noticed, I could not give you the full points because your text lacked a few of the required points. But I know that you have what it takes to get a straight A. You see, the other teachers and I, we talked about your grades and we all agree that with a bit more ’motivation’ you could easily skip the eight class."

 

Aileen was suprised to hear that.

 

Her grades had always been above average but that had never made a teacher consider a scale-up.

 

Mr Ralley continued: "However, to do that you will have to pass the next exam with a straight A, which is why I would like to offer you my assistance. I wouldn’t mind giving you some extra-lessons after school. So what do you say?"

 

Aileen did not respond for a second.

 

What Mr Ralley said did not make sense. The school did not count history as a main subject and she already had an A on her certificate. She knew, because one of her other teachers had told her.

 

So she obviously did not need any help in history.

 

So why did he make it sound like she did?

 

Thinking back to how he had asked her about her ’connections’ in the class, she realised how focused he seemed to be on her.

 

The day after she had coldy brushed him off he did not even seem mad. He had even smiled at her.

 

Why did he want to get on her good side so badly?

 

Aileen’s eyes narrowed a bit.

 

Did he know? Did he know about her magic and wanted to have her approval so she would not use it against him? Was he the one that snuck into her romm at night to open her window so she would not suffocate?

 

She regarded him with a blank face.

 

He was a young man in his mid-twenties, who was often described by her classmates as ’handsome’ or more likely ’hot’ but Aileen did not really care about pretty faces. He was annoying her and that did not change.

 

"That is very thoughtfull of you, Mr Ralley. But I can learn history quite well on my own", she said finally and watched with interest how he seemed to twitch.

 

The young Krueger resisted the urge to grin at the poorly hidden annoyance on his face and the forced smile.

 

Mr Ralley cleared his throat and began to ’calmly’ rearrange the papers on his desk.

 

"Well then, Aileen, I wouldn’t want to keep you here any longer than necessary, so you have a nice day", he said without looking up at her.

 

Aileen thanked him politely and couldn’t help the small smirk on her face as she left the classroom.

 

There was a small crowd of girls gathered at the bus stop when she got there.

 

As soon as Aileen came closer, they closed in on her.

 

"Why are you bothering Mr Ralley so much?", the leader of the lot asked and the girls all glared at her.

 

Aileen slowly raised an eyebrow.

 

"I was asking myself the same thing actually", she replied sarcastically, "but since you don’t seem to know how to use your eyes, or your brain for that matter, let me make it clear to you; _**he**_ is the one that’s bothering _**me**_. So maybe you should go and pester him with your stupid crush."

 

The young Krueger really was not in the mood to deal with the hormones of a drama queen ike Mary Winston. And she would also _**never**_ be in a mood to actually do that.

 

Said drama queen narrowed her eyes at the Krueger and took a threatening step forward, "Be careful, Krueger. You don’t know who you’re dealing with. Stay away from Mr Ralley or else."

 

With that said, they all turned around simultaneously and left in the direction of the shops.

 

Aileen rolled her eyes at their drama and decided to kill Mary Winston first- in the Dream World of course.


	8. Chapter 7 : Baby, don’t hurt me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I’m using song lyrics as chapter titles. Fight me.

Challenging Mary Winston in front of her squad had been a stupid mistake, as Aileen realised in the next few days.

 

She was now actively on the radar of the _cool kids.  
_

 

They openly mocked her both in class and during the breaks.

 

The young Krueger however paid them no mind and only rolled her eyes, annoyed at their childishness.

 

Unfortunately her predicament drew the attention of some teachers to her. They began trying to give her consolation where it was not actually needed and paid a lot more attention to her criticizing her anti-socialness and cold attitude.

 

And it was all Mr Ralley’s fault. How dare he put her in the spotlight like that? He was going to pay.

 

After the school had even gone so far as to call her mother and make her leave work early to come to school, Aileen deciced that she would have to redirect their attention to somewhere else.

 

It was time to get rid of him.

 

She did not really plan the ’revelation’ of her deduction about him.

 

Aileen would just wait until her mother was asleep, then she would sneak out of the house and to Mr Ralley’s.

 

She had no weapon, just a few simple but useful spells from her book.

 

The young Krueger expected no casualties since she had been practicing for the past few months on some rats she had found in their backyard.

 

By using magic she would also leave no evidence of her involvement behind once she called the police on him after his confession.

 

(Alright this was pretty impulsive and would probably not end well, but she was only sixteen and not some criminal mastermind.)

 

It was close to 11pm when she stood in front of Mr Ralley’s apartment door.

 

The lights were off so he had to be asleep.

 

Aileen really could not care less.

 

She rang about three times before Mr Ralley opened the door, dressed only in his sleep-pants and with an annoyed look on his face.

 

It faded however when he took in the sight of Aileen Krueger standing at his doorstep.

 

"Aileen? What are you doing here at this hour? Where’s your mother?", he asked immediately and she smiled sweetly.

 

"Mom’s home asleep, Mr Ralley. She won’t miss me until sunrise", Aileen answered with wide innocent eyes and cringed inwardly, "I’m here because I’ve reconsidered your proposal. May I come in?"

 

She did not wait for his answer but brushed past him, entering his living room and sitting down on his couch.

 

Mr Ralley closed the door slowly and turned to her with a cautious look on his face.

 

Quickly analysing his home, she noted two doors, presumably bed- and bathroom, and a small kitchen connected to the living room. Everything was casually decorated and betrayed nothing about her deductions about him.

 

"Maybe you should go home and we’ll talk about this tomorrow. You should’t even be up at this hour", Mr Ralley said like the responsible adult that he was not.

 

Aileen gave a little laugh, "But I wanted to see you now, Mr Ralley. I didn’t mean to upset you. Please, forgive me?"

 

The history teacher sucked in a sharp breath.

 

She watched him closely, having her deductions proven correct. Now she only needed a verbal confession. She decided to take it a step further.

 

"What can I do to make it up to you, Mr Ralley? I promise to be a good girl from now on, so please don’t be mad at me", she continued.

 

Mr Ralley abruptly went into the kitchen without looking back at her.

 

Aileen’s smile wavered in disgust.

 

He was actually turned on by her words, that sick pedophile.

 

"Would you like something to drink while I call your mother, Aileen?", he inquired while already preparing her a glass of water.

 

"But I came all the way here just to see you, Mr Ralley. I just can’t stop thinking about you. But ... it’s wrong, right? It’s _**forbidden**_ ", she said with a deep sigh.

 

Mr Ralley turned around with a smile on his face.

 

He walked towards her, setting down the glass in front of her without breaking eye contact.

 

Aileen ignored the obviously drugged glass and focused a sleep-spell on her left hand.

 

She watched him carefully as he sat down right next to her, his eyes dark and a sight smirk on his face.

 

"You are a clever girl, Aileen. So pretty too. But also so isolated ... so _**perfect**_ ", he mumbled while stroking her black hair.

 

She tensed a little and prepared herself for making him fall asleep. **Please work!**

 

However before she could even blink he had pressed a wet cloth on her face. 

 

Her concentration broken, the spell dissolved from her hand as she tried to free herself but the drug worked too fast and her world faded to black.


	9. Chapter 8 : Paint it, black

There were several things Aileen noticed as soon as she was fully awake.

 

First, there was a blindfold on her face, so she could not see where she was.

 

Second, she was tied tightly to a chair.

 

Third, the room she was in was unbearably hot and the air was thick, making it quite uncomfortable to breath.

 

Fourth, she was still slightly dizzy and could not concentrate long enough to cast a spell.

 

All in all, her plan was not going so well for her.

 

Well, whatever bits of a plan she had had in the first place. **Stupid**.

 

"Are you awake, dear?", she heard Mr Ralley’s voice.

 

Aileen did not answer but only pursed her lips in disgust.

 

There was no point in drawing this out and pretending to be still unconscious.

 

Especially since she had to be home before her mother woke up.

 

"Finally. I almost feared the worst. You’ve been sleeping for almost seven hours, you see", he said.

 

She heard him move closer and stand in front of her.

 

"Aileen, will you not let me hear your sweet voice?", Mr Ralley asked mournfully.

 

Aileen would roll her eyes if she could. **He was acting so cliché**.

 

She sighed deeply, ignoring him for a moment.

 

Her first big plan ever and it failed so badly.

 

Oh well, she would just have to put more though into it next time.

 

Mr Ralley suddenly grabbed her hair and yanked her head back roughly.

 

"That’s rude, sweetie. First, making me wait for you so long and then ignoring me", Mr Ralley scolded her.

 

Aileen gritted her teeth at the dull pain in the back of her head. She had to get out of here before he got any other ideas.

 

"Anyway", he let go of her and took a few steps to the left.

 

She heard him move around some metalic item and held her breath.

 

"Maybe you’re just too shy to talk, right? You’ve always been a quiet girl in class. _**But**_ there’s a wild flame inside you, isn’t there? One, I would _**love**_ to tame", he continued and then it was quiet for a few seconds.

 

"You are a clever girl, Aileen", he repeated his words from before, "too clever for your own good, obviously. Tell me, how did you know?"

 

Aileen shrugged, "Dunno. I guess you just have a face that screams _pedophile_."

 

Mr Ralley laughed.

 

"Oh, that’s cheeky. Very clever indeed", he drawled, "no really, just tell me. I wanna know."

 

Aileen pondered not telling him but letting him talk instead. But she figured that he would not be patient with here for long.

 

Her mind was sharper than before, so she prepared a spell in her hand.

 

"You made it kinda obvious", she said,"With how you were watching me and trying to get my approval. Normally teachers don’t act like that."

 

Mr Ralley hummed thoughfully, "If only dear Madison had been as clever as you. She wouldn’t have wasted her beauty like that."

 

Aileen twitched in surprise, "Madison? You targeted her too?"

 

"You didn’t know? Oh, now you disappoint me. But honestly, I thought you did with how you were always glaring at me", he mumbled and moved to her right.

 

"Nope, that’s just my face", she answered with a slightly ponding heart.

 

He snorted in amusement, "Well, aren’t you a funny one? Oh, you’re just so _**perfect**_."

 

"Thanks", Aileen replied dryly, "Did you kill Madison or did she really commit suicide?"

 

"Well, it’s up for debate, really", he said, "I broke up with her, although she was quite a good girl, and she couldn’t handle it. A shame, really. She was always so willing to please me..."

 

Aileen felt sick. That was a new one.

 

"So what changed your mind?", she asked and already dreaded the answer.

 

Mr Ralley chuckled lowly and tilted her head up.

 

" _ **You**_ ", whispered and moved closer.

 

The young Krueger acted quickly and released the spell in her left hand.

 

Mr Ralley fell to the side, fast asleep.


	10. Chapter 9 : When I find myself in times of trouble

It was mostly done.

 

Mr Ralley was out cold and now she just had to somehow free herself from the bonds.

 

Struggling actually made it worse and she knew no spell to release herself.

 

"Although", she thought out loud. If she could manage to finally enter the Dream World, she could simply phase through the bonds.

 

Aileen closed her eyes and relaxed her body.

 

It was a bit easier now since she had been practicing almost every night.

 

The ropes and the chair disappeared from her senses as she entered tranquility.

 

Then she opened her eyes.

 

A wave of nausea hit her body as she was suddenly forced back into her body.

 

The world around her seemed to shake as she fell off the chair.

 

She braced her hands on the floor and took deep breaths to calm her nerves.

 

But the air was too thick and the room was too warm.

 

Aileen clumsily got to her feet and stumbled through the open door.

 

It was a bit blurry but she somehow found the way out and greedily sucked in the fresh air.

 

It was still a bit dark outside. The sun was just rising and it looked like it was going to rain soon.

 

Aileen took in her surroundings.

 

She was at the Krueger Farm. She had been under the abandoned barn a few miles away from her house. There had been a fire here once and it had been too expensive to rebuild the building so they had had to abandon it.

 

Mr Ralley had brought her to the old bunker under the burnt down barn. **How ironic**.

 

It took Aileen a few more minutes to calm herself.

 

She had to call the police from Mr Ralley’s phone to lure them here and leave enough clues to make them arrest him.

 

The young Krueger headed back to the bunker room and tied the history teacher up to prevent him from waking up and escaping.

 

She checked all the drawers in the room and found some pictures he took of her while she was out cold. She burned them with a fire spell.

 

The young Krueger made sure to leave the pictues of Madison and some other girls next to him without looking at them twice. They were in some quite inappropriate poses with Mr Ralley and she really did not want to look at them again. **Gross**.

 

Once she was sure that there was no evidence of her left behind, and that included her recorder that he had taken from her pocket and any hairs that she might have lost, she called the police with Mr Ralley’s phone and left it at the entrance of the bunker for the police to track.

 

She was home before her mother woke up.

 

It was easy to convince her mother that she was not feeling well enough to go to school.

 

She really wanted to catch up on the missed sleep and let the events of last night sink in.

 

After reassuring Annabeth that she did not have to go to the hospital, Aileen went into her room let herself fall onto her bed in exhaustion.

 

She took a moment to let the feeling of safety and home wash over her.

 

Being at the mercy of someone else was not a feeling she wanted to feel ever again.

 

She would have to become stronger in order to be able to protect herself in the future.


	11. Chapter 10 : Never gonna let you down

It was a few hours later when the police knocked on their door, asking for Aileen.

 

At the station Sheriff Shepard briefly explained to her mother how they had tracked John Ralley’s phone to their abandoned barn and found him in the old bunker, tied up  and unconcious with several photos of him and younger girls scattered around the room.

 

Apparently Mr Ralley had woken up half an hour ago and given the police a full confession of the events that had happened.

 

Annabeth was furious.

 

" _ **You did what?**_ ", she asked. **Oh shit**.

 

Aileen quickly forced tears into her eyes and cowered before her angry mother.

 

"Mom, I swear it wasn’t like that", she said, "Mr Ralley said he’d get really angry if I didn’t come to him last night. He already made the other girls at school bully me and said he’d do much worse!"

 

Annabeth felt her anger fade away, as concern washed over her at the sight of her usually calm daughter in distress.

 

"They’ve been bullying you because of him?", she clarified.

 

Aileen nodded tearfully and told her how Mr Ralley had been fixated on her for the past few weeks and had made her several offers and compliments in order to win her favour.

 

"I can’t believe this", her mother exclaimed with disgust clear on her face, "how can such a person be a teacher and allowed to be near children? Just the thought of what he might have done to my baby-"

 

Aileen watched her mother close her eyes and breath heavily.

 

Sheriff Shepard put a comforting hand on her shoulder with a sour expression on his face.

 

He turned back to Aileen and knelt down in front of her.

 

"I know you’re probably still in shock because of what happened but I’m gonna need you to tell me all about last night, is that alright?", he asked her.

 

Aileen hesitated for a second.

 

How would she explain how she had put down a fully grown man while tied to a chair?

 

"Uh, well ... okay", she said lamely,

 

"Yesterday Mr Ralley told me to come to his house once Mom was asleep. I was scared because of his threat so I snuck out of the house and went to his place. There he gave me a drink and I fell asleep. When I woke up he was carrying me into a dark room. I panicked and shoved him and he fell to the ground. He didn’t move so I quickly ran away and back home. I was really scared so I didn’t tell Mom and went into my room."

 

The Sheriff narrowed his eyes thoughfully.

 

"But someone called us and Mr Ralley was tied to a chair when we got there. Do you know if there was anyone else there at the bunker?", he inquired.

 

Aileen shook her head.

 

There was obviously no natural way for her to have tied a grown up man to a chair after she had aparently knocked him out ’on accident’, so she didn’t even try to make something up. The best thing was to let them think that there was someone else involved.

 

Mr Shepard furrowed his brows and opened his mouth to ask her another question when suddenly the deputy came into the sSheriff’s office with someone trailing behind him.

 

"James, I think we got the third guy", he said.

 

Aileen’s pale blue eyes shot up and immediately locked with the strikingly green ones of the boy that could not have been two years older than her.

 

"Good day, Sheriff Shepard", he said in a surprisingly smooth voice, "I believe I am the one you’re looking for."


	12. Chapter 11 : Knockin’ on heaven’s door

Aileen did not get the boy’s name since the Sheriff decided to question him alone.

 

Her and her mother had to wait in the hallway of the police station until the police was done with their interrogation.

 

Aileen let herself be smothered by her teary mother while her mind was working at high speed. **Who was he?**

 

She had been the one that tricked Mr Ralley and called the police on him.

 

**So why did he lie? What was his connection to this?**

 

She had no answers.

 

The young Krueger had never seen him before, but could he be a student at her school?

 

She was usually very observant of her surroundings but she did not pay attention to everything and everyone.

 

Aileen took a deep breath and closed her eyes when her head started to hurt.

 

She was tired and hungry and being held here did not make her feel better.

 

The confines of a human body had never bothered her more.

 

"Sweetie, I’m gonna go get myself coffee. Do you want anything?", Annabeth asked her daughter.

 

"Uh, sure. Could you get me something to eat?", Aileen replied and watched her mother until she turned around the corner and out of her sight.

 

She leaned back on the uncomfortable chair and closed her eyes with a tired sigh.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

Aileen woke up to the sound of a door being opened and closed but she did not move.

 

Instead she listened to hushed voices and silent footsteps.

 

Someone sat down next to her without really making much sound.

 

She would have thought it to be her mother if the presence was not so uncomfortably unfamiliar.

 

"How long are you going to pretend to be asleep?", a voice asked lowy.

 

Aileen surpressed a shudder and opened her eyes to find his already on hers.

 

For a few seconds they both regarded each other quietly.

 

Aileen had to admit that his messy black hair, poison-green eyes and pale skin were quite attractive.

 

Her attention was drawn back to his face when his mouth twitched in mild amusement.

 

Aileen narrowed her eyes at his reaction.

 

"Who are you?", she demanded to know.

 

"A friend", he replied without missing a beat.

 

"I don’t have friends", she said.

 

Again he was quick to respond:"You do now."

 

"Well, I don’t want to have any friends, so how about we skip the discussion and get to the point where you tell me who you are", AIleen snapped.

 

She did not like people who thought they could just place themselves into her life with a pretty face.

 

"i did not mean to upset you, Aileen", he replied calmy, "maybe I can prove you wrong. It is good to have allies in this world and maybe you’ll see the benefits of an ... alliance."

 

Aileen spared him a disbelieving glance, "I doubt that."

 

He simply smiled at her like he knew something that she did not. And that was honestly pissing her off.

 

"Anyway", he said suddenly and stood up gracefully, "I’ve already given my statement, so I’m free to go. I’ll see you at school then, Aileen."

 

She watched him leave with an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

 

She thought she might hate him.

 

The young Krueger turned back forward and her eyes landed on a crossaint that was on the chair next to hers.

 

She guessed that her mother must have laid that there for her, so she unwrapped it and ate it.

 

However, she was proven wrong when her mother came out of the Sheriff’s office with a bag of pastries for her.

 

**Damn him.**


	13. Chapter 12 : Lost boy

Aileen did not, in fact, see the strange boy at school the next few days for which she was grateful since school seemed to have become a mess.

 

There were reporters and angry parents all over the place.

 

The teachers and the headmaster tried to get the situation under control but it was too much of a scandal.

 

Aileen was surprised at how fast the news about Mr Ralley had spread, the hallways and campus filled with countless protesting parents demanding answers and better security.

 

However, things calmed down after a few weeks with a few parents having taken their children out of the school and into another one.

 

Aileen had to admit that she was a little proud about how her plan had not been a complete failure at all.

 

Her good mood however was destroyed when she saw _**him**_ again at school.

 

It was lunch break and the hallways were filled with noisy children but she saw him immediately.

 

It was hard not to since his presence seemed so annoyingly big.

 

She would have figured that he would have a fanclub of divas by now but no one seemed to even _notice_ him despite his striking appearance.

 

**Of course, an under-average looking and boring history teacher was a lot more interesting than a handsomely mysterious teenager who was actually within their reach.**

 

Aileen did not deny that he was good looking but that did not make his attitude any less annoying.

 

 **He must have talked to them too** , she thought dryly.

 

She surpressed a deep sigh when he walked straight towards her without any hesitation. **Here goes**.

 

"Are you lost?", she asked when he stopped right in front of her.

 

In contrast to their previous encounter, he did not smile that infuriating smile of his but looked at her with a serious expression on his face, that was suprisingly funny to look at.

 

"I get the feeling you didn’t like me very much. I must admit that that is the quite opposite of what I wanted", he said.

 

Aileen scoffed.

 

"Really, you’re only figuring that out now?", she said, "Look, I bet you’re really nice and all that but I don’t like people who think they can decide things for me because they think it’s what I need. **I** decide whenever I’m friends with someone and I also have no interest in an ’alliance’. For what anyway? I like to go solo and I see nothing in you that would change that, especially since you’re playing that mysterious act."

 

Honestly, at this point she was just expecting him to argue or give up.

 

What she did not expect him to do was to nod and agree with her.

 

"I understand that I have been going at this the wrong way. I would like to get a second chance and a clear start, to prove myself to you. If you’d allow me to?", he said.

 

Aileen stared at him in baffled silence for a few seconds. **Seriously?**

 

The young Krueger was not used to boys in her age to act this ... mature. He seemed to be sincere too.

 

"Why?", was all she could get out in her astonishment.

 

There was the smile again.

 

"Because I think we’d make a good team, you and me", he answered simply.

 

She blinked twice at him.

 

"... Fine", she said eventually, "you’ll get your second chance. Maybe we should start with you telling me your name."

 

His smile widened.

 

"Certainly", he agreed, "my name is _Juan Walker_."


	14. Chapter 13 : I’ve got immortal longings in me

The shrill sound of the gate being opened pulls her out of her thoughts.

 

She raises her head slightly from where she stands leaning with crossed arms against a half-broken wall and watches the four young Survivors over the brim of her hat.

 

Her lips pull back as a slight smirk forms on her burnt face.

 

 **Time to hunt**.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

Juan Walker was actually not _**that**_ annoying.

 

Aileen had to admit that he did have a pretty good sense of humour.

 

He somehow managed to pull a laugh out of her almost every few minutes and turned out to be good company.

 

She was surprisingly relieved that she had not scared him away.

 

Aileen though she might actually like calling him her friend.

 

She also noticed how dreamwalking had become surprisingly easy.

 

She did not panic anymore or woke up in cold sweat.

 

Opening her eyes still proved to be a challenge though and she was not sure how to get past it.

 

The book did not really explain that part explicitly and there was also no information about it on the internet.

 

She had to be able to ’leave the confines of her human body behind in order to walk in the Dream World’ and become something else, something _better_.

 

Being human felt so disgusting to her and it only got worse whenever she saw the news.

 

She was ashamed to be a creature that was so egoistical and self-centered.

 

But Aileen also understood that that was human nature and unchangeable, so instead of hating humanity she simply did not want to be a part of it.

 

"Lost in thoughts already?", a voice remarked and pulled her out of her thoughts, "You do realise that it’s not even past noon, right?"

 

Aileen looked up from her place at the barn and squinted her eyes at the sunlight to see Juan.

 

She shrugged as a respons and watched him sit down next to her.

 

"You’ve been doing that a lot lately", he said, "Is there something on your mind?"

 

The young Krueger watched him out of the corner of her eyes.

 

**Should she tell him?**

 

She could not forsee his reaction to her attempts at dreamwalking and honestly she did not trust him enough yet to tell him.

 

"It’s nothing", she replied finally.

 

Juan hummed and watched her carefully for a second.

 

"I see", he said casually, "Is this about your dreamwalking?"

 

Aileen froze for a moment.

 

"How do you know about that?", she demanded.

 

Juan chuckled a little, "That is for me to know and for you to finde out, dear Aileen. Can’t make it too easy now, can I?"

 

She looked at him with wide blue eyes and tried to remember if she ever told him anything about it but she was fairly sure that she had not.

 

"You have to learn to see without actually ’seeing’. Just like you learned to breath without ’breathing’ and to hear without ’hearing’", he said after she had stared at him for a good couple of minutes, "How did you learn to do that again?"

 

Aileen composed herself again, "I stopped trying to."

 

Juan nodded satisfied.

 

So she simply had to stop trying to open her eyes to see. She had to see with her mind instead. _Leave your body behind..._

 

"Thanks", Aileen muttered softly.

 

"You’re welcome", he replied smiling.

 

"... You don’t find it weird? The dreamwalking, I mean", she asked.

 

Why did she suddenly feel so uncertain and ... shy?

 

Juan smiled softly, his eyes kind.

 

"No", he said simply, "No, I don’t."

 


	15. Chapter 14 : Locked away

She sighs as the blood on her claws disappears with a flicker of her wrist.

 

This team of Survivors had been particularly boring.

 

The had not even managed to repair at least two generators, instead they had focused on saving each other from the hooks and letting her pull them into the Dream World for her to mori them once they all had been hooked once.

 

Her eyes briefly flicker to the high walls that seperated Not-Sprngwood from ... whatever it is that is out there.

 

She scoffs lightly.

 

**The Survivors are not the only prisoners here.**

 

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

 

Aileen decided that she wad not sure what to think of Juan.

 

He really annoyed her at times with cryptic answers and mysterious smiles.

 

Then he changed the subject and distracted her from the annoyance.

 

 **Was has toying with her or could he simply not give her clear answers?** It was hard to tell.

 

What she was sure of was that Juan took a lot of her freetime up.

 

The strange boy always seemed to want to show her something or do some kind of activity with her.

 

**Was this how friends worked? It was strange but ... nice somehow.**

 

 

Time flew by and their summer vacation started.

 

The weather was uncomfortably hot and dry so a lot of families drove to the beach.

 

Their little town was mostly empty and quiet but the harvest had been good that year so there were still a few of the farm workers on their farm.

 

There really was not much to do with nearly all the shops closed but Aileen and Juan spend time together almost every day without talking or simply enjocing the cool breeze in the shadows.

 

Juan occasionally also helped her with dreamwalking by giving her some books about it and offering some advice on how to prepare her mind on the transition.

 

It was the next night when it all finally paid off.

 

She had entered her mother’s dream.

 

It had been ... strange.

 

There was nothing for her to see at first but she just _knew_ that she was in Annabeth Krueger’s dream.

 

She had expected a beach maybe since Annabeth had been talking about wanting to go there next summer.

 

As soon as the thought crossed her mind Annabeth’s Dream World came to life.

 

She saw her mother lying on the beach, she heard the sound of waves and she caught the scent of salt.

 

There were only a few other people on the beach beside them or at least the idea of them since they had no real shape or faces.

 

Aileen stepped closer to her mother’s side.

 

"Mom?", she asked softly.

 

Her mother opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow at her.

 

There was suddenly another lounger beside hers like it had always been there.

 

Aileen felt surprised that her mother had accepted her intrusion into her dream so easly.

 

"Yes, sweetie?", Annabeth replied.

 

AIleen shook her head with a little smile.

 

"It’s nothing", she turned to the sea, blue and wide, "This is nice."

 

Annabeth nodded with a brighter smile at her daughter, "It is."

 

Aileen woke up with a start.

 

She was breathing heavily and sweating.

 

Her window was opened as usal but this time a dark figure stood in front of it.

 

Blood red eyes watched her with intensity as she struggled to calm her pounding heart.

 

She suddenly knew what it was.

 

The figure was gone in the next moment and she was alone with her realisation.


	16. Chapter 15 : Aha!

"I know who you are", was the first thing she said to Juan the next day.

 

He merely raised and eyebrow at her, "Do you now?"

 

She sat down in front of him with a blanc face.

 

"Yes", she said firmly, "You are a Dreamwalker. Someone who walks the World of Tranquility ... and someone who controls it. You are the Dream Master, aren’t you, _**Juan Walker**_?"

 

Juan smiled, "Yes. But that is not all that you’ve realised."

 

Aileen shook her head, "You open the window in my room every night when I’m close to suffocating. You know so much about the dark arts ... You are a witch."

 

Juan’s smile widened and his eyes turned red, "Yes, I am. Do you think it’s weird?"

 

Again the young Krueger shook her head, "Not weirder than dreamwalking."

 

He chuckled in agreement.

 

"What I would like to know is ... why? Why did you come here? Why did you want to befriend me?", she asked.

 

Juan looked into the distance and his eyes turned back to green.

 

"Would you believe me if I told you it was all just a coincidence?", he tried.

 

Aileen raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him and he continued, "Alright. It’s not a coincidence at all. I felt it when you first entered the Dream World- or at least tried to. As you have deduced it correctly I am able to travel through dreams and manipulate the outside world. You have to know; you are the only Dreamwalker with the ... potential that I’m looking for. So I simply came here to form an alliance with you for my future plans. I think we’d make a good team."

 

She shifted slightly, "What are your plans exactly?"

 

Juan smiled calmly, "The enhancement of the human race, of course."

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

She watches in silence as the Entitus’ claws rip into the body of the last Survivor, his teammates already gone.

 

She rolls her eyes at the dramatic scene and lazily walks down the street of Not-Springwood once _Fired Up_ deactivates itself.

 

The female Killer pays no attention to the impaled corpse of a young woman as it turns to ashes.

 

As always, the palettes and hooks get reseted and deplaced, the exit gates closing with rattling sounds and the hatch despawning.

 

The woman stretches her arms over her head and enters the portal that appears in front of her.

 

The other Killers are already gathered around the fairly big room, communication with each other in their own ways.

 

She leans against a wall and crosses her arms while she listens to the other Killers.

 

The female Killer looks up when a familiar presence steps in front of her and locks eyes and with her.

 

"What?", she asks the Wraith unfriendly.

 

"Heard that you’re still not hooking anyone up", his husky voice remarked in a whisper, "if you continue that you might make the Entitus angry."

 

"Remember when I asked for your opinion? Me neither", she replied curtly.

 

He tips his head to the side, ignoring her rude remark,"The Entitus is already agitated because of you and he lets it out on us. We would apreciate it, if you followed the rules."

 

The female raises an eyebrow at him, "Thanks for your complaint. I will file it right between ’Don’t give a flying fuck’ and ’sucks to be you’."

 

She gives him no time to retort and leaves the room with the eyes of several Killers on her back.


	17. Chapter 16 : Black magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are going down O_______O.

It was a little bit confusing, Aileen had to admit.

 

She did not expect to meet someone who was okay with such things as black magic and dreamwalking.

 

It made her wonder about his origins.

 

Given his way of speaking and his manners, Juan had to be from a wealthy family.

 

However, he did not answer any of her questions about them so she did not pry any further.

 

Her supportiveness of her darker side made her rather insecure about it.

 

She did not really care about doing the right thing (since, honestly, the right thing is always different for everyone) but a part of her was almost ... scared about the outcome if her mother or anyone else got wind of her’s and Juan’s doings.

 

They _**were**_ practicing the dark arts after all.

 

And Juan also seemed to have some kind of big plan for humanity and she was not sure if she wanted to be a part of it.

 

But she feared that she was already too far in to back out now.

 

It was the second week of their summer holidays when Juan suggested to help her more actively with dreamwalking.

 

"I could meet you in the Dream World and be a guide to you", he said and Aileen agreed to it after figuring out that he would be a great help.

 

Following Juan’s advice, she entered the Dream World like always and waited for him.

 

It did not take long for him to appear before her.

 

"Good, it took you less time to enter the Dream World. You’re improving", he complimented her with a smile.

 

"Yeah", she replied lamely, still uncomfortable with his compliments.

 

But Juan did not tease her about it, he merely smirked knowingly and continued, "Anyway, you’ve been wandering around a lot since you’ve become able to do so. I would like to show you something different. I think you’ll like it."

 

The Dream Master motioned for her to follow him and she did so with uncertainty.

 

Suddenly they were in a dark alley in the city.

 

It was night time and quiet.

 

She thought it was almost peacefull until she saw the passed-out man lying at the back of the alley, a couple of empty bottles around him.

 

"What are we doing here", she asked Juan, feeling rather uncomfortable since she recognised the smell of alcohol from her childhood.

 

The male witch smiled comfortingly, "I think it’s time we test your abilities."

 

She looked at the older teen in confusion.

 

 **What did he mean by ’abilities’? Wasn’t this just a dream?** She frowned at herself. This did not feel like a normal dream. **And who would dream of something like this anyway?**

 

"What ’abilities’ are you talking about? And how would I ’test’ them exactly?", she asked him.

 

"Aileen", Juan chuckled darkly, his entire demeanor suddenly changed and his eyes blood red, "You know what I’m talking about. Why did you want to dreamwalk again?"

 

The young Krueger gasped as she realised what he was asking of her.

 

Juan’s smirk widened when he saw that she had caught on.

 

"This is your choice", he said lowly, "This man is alcoholic and abusive. Clearly the lowest of humanity. He had his chance to do something with his life and he gambled it. Now his poor litle son has to feed for both of them. Pathetic, right? Why should he not taste the consequences of his mistakes? He doesn’t have a place in this world anymore."

 

Aileen felt her insides turn cold despite the pounding of her heart with every word. **He was telling her to kill this man.**

 

 

Juan stepped behind her and gently guided her towards the unconcious man.

 

His soft voice echoed in her mind as a knife appeard in her hand, " _ **Kill him.**_ "

 

And so she did.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

Aileen was unsure how to feel about it the next morning.

 

She had indeed felt the same thrill, the euphoria again when she had killed that man.

 

But there had only been horror when she had woken up.

 

However, her heart almost stopped when she came downstairs just to read a headline on the newspaper.

 

**’Man found dead in alleyway!’**

 


	18. Chapter 17 : Embrace the dark

Her mother realised quickly that something was wrong with Aileen when the latter continued to stand at the bottom of the stairs her eyes glued to the newspaper.

 

"Sweetie?", Annabeth called out to her and frowned when she got not answer, "Aileen, what’s wrong?"

 

Aileen’s eyes flickered to her mother as she tried to calm her pounding heart.

 

She opened her mouth to reassure her that everything was fine but no sound came out.

 

Mrs Krueger then looked at the newspaper herself and froze for a second before she turned the page over.

 

"Honey", she said softly and stood in front of her daughter, "I’m sorry, sweetie. This must bring back bad memories. Why don’t you stay at home today, hm? I can also take off from work and stay with you."

 

Aileen took a deep breath and shook her head.

 

"No ... no, I think I’ll be fine. It’s fine", she muttered and gave her mother a weak smile before ditching breakfast and heading to school.

 

School went by as quick as always, however her mind was still occupied with the fact that the man she had killed _**in a dream**_ last night had also died in reality. **How was that possible?**

 

She had wanted to learn how to dreamwalk in order to investigate her strange fascination with death without alerting anyone to it.

 

But to kill someone for real ...

 

Aileen had decided to bury those feelings deep inside once they were confirmed but now it was impossible.

 

**She had murdered someone and it had felt _good_. It really was too late, wasn’t it?**

 

Aileen felt hot boiling anger stirr deep within her when she saw Juan waiting for her after school.

 

She walked right past him, expecting him to follow her, which he did.

 

The did not talk, the tension thick.

 

She turned to him abruptly once there were in a secluded area, her eyes blazing.

 

" _ **What the hell**_ ", she spit out, "That man from last night is **_dead_**. He was found this morning. It can’t be a coincidence that the guy _**you**_ had me stab in a dream yesterday dies the same night!"

 

Juan’s face remained infuriatingly passive when he simply replied: "I cant make you do something that you don’t want to do yourself, Aileen. You think killing people in a dream will satisfy you? It won’t."#

 

He took a step forward, his hand coming up to brush a strand of her straight black hair aside.

 

"There is an instinct inside you. It has always been there", he continued while she stood unmoving, a feeling of dread and hopelessness washing over her, "Just embrace it, Aileen Freyr Krueger. Embrace the **_Killer_** inside you and become my exectuor in my quest to change the human race."

 

Aileen’s mouth opened but no sound came from her as her mind spun in circles.

 

"That’s the reason you approached me", she managed to say.

 

Juan smiled calmy, "Yes. You have the potential to become something more than just a normal human, dear. For my plan I will need strong allies and you _**will**_ be strong."

 

The young Krueger willed her face to become impassive but she failed and bit her lip instead.

 

"No", she rasped finally, her eyebrows furrowing, "I have no interest in you schemes and I won’t let myself be manipulated by you again. This is over."

 

Juan stayed silent as she brushed past him an back into the main street.

 

She thought she heard hiim chuckle behind her but she only hurried her steps and ran back home.

 

"Oh hey, Sweetie, you’re a bit late today", Annabeth remarked curiously when Aileen got home half an hour later.

 

The younger Krueger did not reply and silently took off her shoes with trembling fingers.

 

Her mother frowned in concern.

 

"How was school? Everything okay?", she asked cautiously, "Still not feeling well?"

 

Aileen took a shaky breath and shook her head.

 

"Mom ...", she began but the word would not come out, "I ... yesterday I ..."

 

Mrs Krueger turned off the stove and took her daughter to the couch.

 

"What’s wrong, honey?", she asked softly.

 

Aileen looked at her mother with wide fearful blue eyes.

 

_**"I killed someone."** _

 

 


	19. Chapter 18 : Mother knows best

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long one.

She told her mother everything.

 

How she had felt after killing her father, her thoughts and the past few months.

 

Annabeth listened quietly until Aileen ran out of things to say and just sat there with her lungs working to get air and her heart pounding in her head, tears ready to spill.

 

She looked up to find her mother rubbing her temples and sighing deeply.

 

They were both quiet for a while.

 

"You will stay away from that boy. You will not even breath in his direction", the older Krueger said finally, "Go get that book you bought."

 

Aileen complied with a lump in her throat and brought her mother the book about dark magic.

 

Annabeth did not waste any breath and set it on fire in their kitchen sink.

 

Mother and daughter watched the dark leather burn with silence until there were only ashes left which Annabeth threw into the trash bin.

 

"As long as you don’t cause us any more trouble, you can still satisfy that urge of yours to kill people through dreams. But I’m only allowing you this because outside of dreams, you’re not even going to think about this, understood?", her mother said coldy.

 

Aileen nodded, a numb feeling in her stomach.

 

"Good. Now go to your room. I’ll call you once dinner is ready."

 

Aileen stayed in her room until her mother called her downstairs for dinner, her face buried in her pillows and her mind blanc.

 

Her mother was the same as always during dinner, acting as though the last few hours had not been filled with horrifiying revelations, so Aileen decided to do the same for the evening and the days, weeks, months after that.

 

She did not see Juan during that time, in fact, it seemed like he had disappeard.

 

Aileen still spent most of her nights dreamwalking and, once in a month or so, killing people who were at least a few cities away.

 

Things continued on like that until her 18th birthday when she met Juan Walker again.

 

She would not be celebrating this birthday with her mother, since Annabeth had to work all day, so Aileen spent the saturday alone at home, watching movies and eating her cake.

 

She was not paying any attention to the TV however, her mind absent.

 

**How long would she lust after human life? How long could she play this game?**

 

Juan had been right about the Killer instinct.

 

During their class trip to Washington DC she had not felt comfortable enough around her roommates presence and unable to to enter the Dream World.

 

She remembered how her mood had been unstable and how she had almost killed one of her roommates at night.

 

Aileen groaned and buried her head in a cushion.

 

**This was getting out of hand. Maybe she should ask a professional about it...**

 

The young Krueger scoffed as she remembered that her mother had told her to keep quiet about it and keep it in dreams.

 

 **Did she not understand the gravity of the situation? Or did she simply not want to?** Aileen slowly raised her head a little bit, her irises burning red. **Maybe ... she should show Annabeth just how much of a monster her daughter really is.**

 

"Oh, you totally should", a voice came from right beside her, startling her out of her thoughts, "Want help?"

 

Her wide eyes settled on his smirking face.

 

"What ... how did you- wait- what the hell", Aileen stuttered and Juan’s grin grew in amusement, "How did you get in here?"

 

She was sure that the door was locked and all the windows closed.

 

She narrowed her eyes at Juan as he actually started laughing at her, waiting until he stopped and gave her a wide grin, " _Magic_."

 

Aileen rolled her eyes at his cheekiness.

 

"No thanks, I’m not doing anything with you and especially not something you find a good idea", she replied to his earlier comment and turned back to the TV, intend on ignoring him.

 

Juan pouted at her side.

 

"But aren’t you fed up with playing the good girl at day and the bad girl at night? Following rules is boring, right?", he pressed on an leaned forward until he was right beside her ear, "Wouldn’t you like to do something _**fun**_ for once? _**Something forbidden?**_ I know that you find the thought alluring, Aileen. Come on, **_just give in_**."

 

She turned her head towards him in an instant with a furious look on her face.

 

" _ **Get out**_ ", she hissed.

 

Juan matched her look with a calm one for a second before sighing.

 

"I’m just trying to help you, Aileen", he said, his face inches from hers.

 

"Your help is not appreciated, now get out", she said back, her whole body tense.

 

Unexpectedly, Juan only simled slightly and whispered, " _But for how long will you last, I wonder?_ Don’t worry though. If you fall, I’ll be right there to catch you."

 

She did not move as he vanished in black smoke and tendrils right in front of her, her heart beating erratically in her chest.

 

**What the actual fuck.**


	20. Chapter 19 : I’m wearing red tonight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Heavy ... implied ... bad things ... in this chapter :/ (Torture and stuff)

A few more days passed and there was no sign of Juan.

 

He did not bother acting like he went to her school anymore and the fact that no-one seemed to even notice that he did not come to school anymore (since at least the teachers should have asked her about him by now) made her realise that he had probably integrated himself into her environment through magic.

 

He came all the way to Kansas because of her and tried to get her on his side for his _masterplan_.

 

Even though she was not going to actually help him with the ’enhancement of the human race’ (whatever that even meant) she could not help but wonder what he was up to.

 

However Aileen did not let herself think about it too much since she was not supposed to and she had no answers anyway.

 

It was another Saturday night when she saw him again.

 

She had just started to get ready for bed when something hit her window.

 

Juan stood outside, waving up at her with a big smile on his face.

 

Aileen actually felt her left eye twitch in annoyance before she frowned and wordlessly turned around, deciding to ignore him.

 

Suddenly she felt a wave of dizziness hit her as black smoke filled her vision.

 

She was standing next to Juan in the next moment and stumbled backwards as her stomach made a turn.

 

Juan’s arm shout out and quickly wrapped around her shoulders to steady her.

 

"Oops", he mumbled sheepishly, "Everything okay?"

 

She took deep breaths to calm her stomach and glared at him.

 

"I hope you have a good reason for this", she said.

 

"I do", he answered quickly, "But I’ll need you to come with me."

 

Aileen breathed out slowly.

 

"Juan, I’m not supposed to even think about you", she reminded him, "And I also will not help you with whatever it is you’re planning. Why can’t you understand that?"

 

Juan only smiled and shook his head.

 

"I _**do**_ understand", he said, "And this is not about you helping me with anything. This is about _**me**_ helping _**you**_. Please, come with me and let me prove to you that you’re meant to do this."

 

She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking.

 

"Fine", she said finally, tired with this mess, "But you’ll leave me alone after this."

 

Juan smiled relieved and nodded in agreement.

 

She already regreted her decision when he took her hand and lead her to the barn where she had found Madison’s body all those years ago.

 

AIleen stopped dead in her tracks when she saw what was in the barn.

 

Mary Winston was tied up, blindfolded and gagged to a chair in the middle of the barn.

 

She was trembling and whimpering quietly, obviously scared.

 

There was a tray with various tools next to her, some of which she recognised as farming tools and kitchen knifes.

 

"I’ve prepared this just for you. You will see how different it is to kill someone in _Dream_ from how it is in the _Waking World_ ", Juan spoke up from behind her and gently pushed her towards Mary.

 

The tied-up girl began to sob at his words and trash around in the ropes.

 

Aileen felt her heart speed up as her mind tried to understand the situation.

 

"What ...", she managed to utter as mortification settled deep within her stomach, along with ... excitement.

 

"It’s simple, Aileen", Juan purred and held a rather big knife towards her, "Take this knife, or any of the other tools really, and ... slice to your hearts content. I promise you will like this far more than what you usually do."

 

Aileen shook her head and took a step back.

 

"No", she said, "I won’t do it. I can’t-"

 

Juan smiled calmly but there was a dangerous glint in his poison-green eyes that made her feel cold inside.

 

"Because _**your mother**_ told you so? Tell me, are you grateful for the way she handled things?", the male witch asked her and slowly walked towards her, his eyes piercing into hers, "Let me tell you something, Aileen. Your mother is very stubborn and very selfish. She cares so little for you, and I’m sure you’ve realised that yourself by now, that she ignores your obvious ’problem’ in favour of livving a normal life just because she doesn’t want to deal with it. She should have taken you to a therapist after you killed you feather but she refused because it would have cost her a lot of money and, more importantly of course, reputation. Do you want me to go on?"

 

Aileen shook her head as anger boiled deep inside her.

 

**He was right. Everything he said was true, there was no point in denying it.**

 

She had already realised how much her mother did wrong after Madison’s death and the anger, the grief at being something so _abormal_ had only risen since then.

 

**It was all her mother’s fault.**

 

Aileen slowly raised her head and Juan’s facial expression softened.

 

He said nothing as she stepped forward and took the knife he offered her.

 

Her calm, calculated steps towards Mary Winston made the other girl sob as the light of the moon that shone through a window reflected on the blade.

 

**No more holding back now.**


	21. Chapter 20 : Burn this fucker down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Continued implicaton of bad stuff (torture)

It was several hours later when Aileen finally stopped testing the different tools and the usage on Mary Winston and drove the knife through her heart, making it a swift kill.

 

By now she was quiet familiar with the human anatomy, since Juan also occasionally offered helpful advise on where to cut to spill more/less blood or how to kill someone slowly/fast.

 

Aileen felt the swirl of emotions settle down once Mary stopped moving and took a deep breath in, by now used to the smell of blood and gore.

 

She turned to Juan, who stood a respectful distance away from her and motioned for him to come closer.

 

"What do we do with the body?", she asked and wiped the blood off of her hands with a clean cloth despite her clothes almost being soaked with it.

 

"Hm ... we burn it?", he offered.

 

Aileen raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him, "You haven’t thought this through?"

 

Juan shrugged, "I didn’t think there’d be still that much left of her."

 

The young Krueger rolled her eyes, "I’ll get the gasoline."

 

She turned around to get to the shack outside the barn but forze when she saw Annabeth standing in the doorway, her eyes wide and her skin ashen.

 

"Mom", Aileen said and her mother flinched, "Shouldn’t you be in bed?"

 

The older Krueger took a step back, her eyes flickering between Aileen and the bloodied body of Mary Winston.

 

"What have you done?", she whispered with a high-pitched voice, fear clouding her mind.

 

Aileen smiled calmy in respons and took a step forward, taking satisfaction in the way her mother jerked back.

 

" _ **Oh come on, mom**._ What did you think I was doing almost every night?" Aileen asked seethingly, "Oh no, wait. You didn’t care as long as you were able to live a normal life with no problems whatsoever. What do you care about me, anyway? _**But look, mom.**_ This is who I am. _**This**_ is your daughter. _**A Killer** **.**_ "

 

As soon as she took the next step towards her mother, Annabeth turned tail and ran back into the house.

 

"I got this", Aileen said to Juan before she went after her.

 

"Sure", he replied and turned back to Mary, "And I’ll take care of _**this**_."

 

Annabeth hurried to lock the door and grab the phone, her grip unsteady as she was trembling.

 

Suddenly she felt her heart skip a beat as a strange feeling came over her and the world seemed to tremble for a moment.

 

She had already dialed 911 but the phone was dead in her hands.

 

The only sound she heard was the pounding of her heart and her quick breaths.

 

 _This was not happening. This could not be happening._ It was too quiet. _Why was it so quiet?_

 

Annabeth let out a shaky breath and slowly turned around, praying to god to not have that monster behind her.

 

Glowing ice-blue eyes pierced through the darkness of the living room right into hers.

 

Aileen stood silently, watching her mother with no expression on her face.

 

"You were going to call the police on me", the younger Krueger remarked quietly, "Put me into jail. After that, you would have probably moved somewhere else, maybe changed your name. Out of sight, out of mind, right?"

 

She closed her eyes for a moment and Annabeth bolted to the front door, but even after she unlocked it, it did not open.

 

"It’s sad, really", Aileen murmured, "After everything, your existence was just so ... _**meaningless.**_ "

 

Small flames flickered inbetween her fingers and slowly grew and spread until her hands were engulfed in hot burning fire.

 

"Although", she said as she raised her hands and watched the flames with interest, "Maybe not fully, since you did kind of make _**me**_."

 

A sharp smirk and the flames exploded outwards, covering every surface they could hold on to and starting to burn everything down-

 

**Including the carless mother of a long lost daughter.**


	22. Chapter 21 : The Nightmare on Elm Street

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The opposite of love is not hatred. It’s indifference." - Elie Wiesel

Everything seemed blurry when Aileen woke up. Blurry and bright.

 

Her whole body burned and ached and she found that she could not move it.

 

While that did not worry the dreamwalker, the fact that her eyes were taking too long to focus certainly did.

 

She hissed lowly as she tried to turn her head, the movement causing her to feel as if she was ripping her skin off.

 

**What had happened?**

 

Her brain was taking a long time to remember what had caused the injuries she felt on her whole body.

 

Once she began to see everything a bit clearer, she looked around the small room without moving her head too much.

 

It was clear that she was in a hospital, if the white ... everything and the smell were any kind of indication.

 

**So what had let to this again?**

 

Aileen closed her pale blue eyes and relaxed her body, trying to remember.

 

**There had been ... fire. Everywhere. And ... her mother?**

 

The Krueger’s eyes snapped open when the memories returned all together at once.

 

**Right.**

 

She had burned down her house and ... her mother. After that, the flames had gone out of control and she had been trapped in them.

 

Aileen slightly turned her head to the right, where a small round device was hanging from a shelf above her.

 

She somehow managed to tune out the pain she felt long enough to press the red button.

 

Her hand fell back to her side with a hiss from her as pain shot through her almost fully bandaged body.

 

It did not take long for a nurse to come and check up on her, taking her vitals and asking her to rate the paint she felt on a scale of 0 to 8, before promising to bring her another bottly of morphine.

 

The woman also imformed her about the police wanting to take her statement about the fire. **Wonderful.**

 

It was Sheriff Shepard who entered her hospital room and gave her a sad smile, "Hey, Aileen. How are you feeling?"

 

Aileen did not answer, simply because she knew that if she told him that she was fine he would probably get suspicious about her, considering her situation.

 

"... Well, I hope you’ll feel better with time", he said after a few seconds of silence, "Did the nurse tell you about ... your mother?"

 

She nodded slightly.

 

The nurse had not actually told about it but she did not really want to hear him tell her what she already knew.

 

**Her mother was dead.**

 

 

Surprisingly, she did not fell better or worse. **Indifference** , was all that came to her mind.

 

"I’m sorry, Aileen. We came too late and your mother was already ... I’m truly sorry", the Sheriff said.

 

There was a strange look in his eyes, one she identified as sorrow. She wondered if him and her mother had somehow gotten closer these past years.

 

"If you feel up to it, there are some questions I’ll have to ask you about the incident", he continued and she nodded, wanting to get it over with, "We discovered that the cause of the fire was the stove. Your mother must have been trying to make tea as we also found the remains of a kettle on the stove. Can you confirm this?"

 

Aileen attempted a shrug before she was painfully reminded of her body’s condition.

 

"I was asleep when the fire woke me. My mother was not in her room, so I went downstairs. I remember trying to get out but the smoke was too thick and then nothing", she answered.

 

Mr Shepard nodded and wrote something down on his notepad.

 

He asked her a few more questions before telling her that it was not yet decided who would take custody of her.

 

"If you don’t mind it ... I’m moving to somewhere else soon and I wouldn’t mind taking custody of you. Maybe you’d feel better somewhere away from here", he said.

 

Aileen thought about it for a while.

 

"I think I’d like that", she said finally, "Where would we be moving to?"

 

Mr Sheaprd gave her a warm smile, "It’s, uh, a small city in Ohio called Springwood. I think you’ll lke it on ... what was it again ... ah yes, Elm Street."

 

Aileen hummed thoughtfully, "I think so to."

 

_And so the Nightmare begins._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued.


End file.
